Mooroopna’s Dom Gugliotti eyes off finals after missing last September action through injury

Then he got injured. A ruptured AC joint in his shoulder. Worst case scenario.

Gugliotti sat on the pine as Mooroopna knocked over Rochester in the elimination final only to exit thanks to a 15-point loss at the hands of Mansfield in the semis.

The watching and waiting ate away at him and now his hunger to right last year’s wrongs will manifest at Moon Oval on Sunday.

The Cats square off with Euroa in another elimination final and, now healed and healthy, the 22-year-old is champing at the bit to shoulder the task of helping his side go one step further in 2023.

“It’s pretty exciting, we’ve been building towards being a competitive side and being a finals side for a couple of years now,” he said.

“It was pretty rough (in last year’s finals) because you play all season and the last few years prior to John (Lamont) we’ve been pretty down.

“To build in towards a pretty good side and then miss out on finals ― our first finals in 10 years or whatever it was ― was pretty tough. But obviously I still wanted to win so I was happy to watch the boys.

“It was the first time I’d really been on the sidelines because I’d never really been seriously injured like that.

“It was a different experience and pretty hard watching, especially that Mansfield one we lost, but I’m pretty keen to see how we go this year.”

It’s clear Gugliotti is a ‘‘Catter’’ through and through.

He began through the club’s Auskick program and played all his juniors in the white and navy before finally breaking into Mooroopna’s senior squad two years ago.

If he emerged in 2021 and earned his spot in 2022, Gugliotti is almost part of the Cats’ furniture by now.

He averages 14.8 disposals at 78 per cent efficiency this season and ranks elite in rebound 50s (2.9 a match), also bringing up his 50th senior appearance in mid-August.

What a few years it has been for the run-and-gun back pocket.

Two full seasons lining up on the GVL’s best forwards ― many of which have graced the AFL stage ― as well as getting an interleague tap this season, Gugliotti often has to stop and think about just how far he’s come.

“You kind of have to pinch yourself sometimes, because not too long ago you were watching these boys kick goals on the big stage and then you find yourself playing on them,” he said.

“You do kind of have to mature pretty quickly because they don’t care about you and you’ve got to stop them kicking goals.”

But who was the toughest?

“Everyone’s different as well, so you’ve got to study your opponent so your game changes from week to week,” he said.

“(Shepparton United’s) Jayden Magro, he was pretty tough ― I couldn’t really work him out.

“I better not say who I’m playing on this weekend, but he’s pretty tough from Euroa.”

Given Euroa’s forward stocks, revealing who Gugliotti is referencing isn’t as easy as it seems.

But he’s come this far to not chuck his whole weight behind the challenge and charge in full pelt. Giving up simply isn’t part of his make-up.

Off the oval he works as an apprentice carpenter ― and he’s almost qualified.

Thankfully the hard-running defender won’t have to wait to graduate as a Mooroopna finals player, with last weekend’s performance ― a five-point loss against Echuca ― a building block towards knockout footy.

“Obviously you want to come into finals in good form and yeah we did lose on the weekend, but we played some great footy and matched it with the best in the comp,” he said.

“We’ve shown that we can do that, so we’re feeling pretty confident that if we bring our A-game, we can definitely bring it up to any team in the comp.

“We feel like we’ve got a lot of good footy in front of us even though we’ve lost a couple.

“It’s been a pretty good year and we’re hoping to bring some good form into finals.”